Lalitha Sahasranamam Meaning 563 - 571

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Mukhyā मुख्या (563)

She is the first in the universe. Mukhya also means important. She is authoritative amongst all gods and goddesses. Taittirīya Upaniṣad (III.x.6) says “I am That which was born before anything. I was born before the gods and goddesses”. This nāma says that She is not only first among the creations, but also part of creation itself and assumes importance amongst all gods and goddesses.

Mṛḍānī मृडानी (564)

Mṛḍa means Śiva. Consort of Mṛḍa is Mṛḍānī. It also means giver of happiness that is provided by the vimarśa form of Śiva, i.e. Śaktī.

Mitra-rūpiṇī मित्र-रूपिणी (565)

Mitra means a friend. Sun is considered as a friend of the universe, as it sustains existence. She is in the form of sun. Sun is the best friend of all organisms. In Śrī vidyā worship, Śiva is represented by agni, Śaktī is represented by moon and the union of Śiva-Śaktī is represented by sun. This nāma indicates Her closeness and easy accessibility to those who seek Her.

Nitya-tṛptā नित्य-तृप्ता (566)

She remains eternally contended, because She has no requirements. Non-requirement is one of the qualities of the Brahman. It is said “That is infinite and this is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite, taking the infinite of the infinite, it remains as the infinite alone.” Because She being infinite, She remains eternally contended.

Nāma 815 is anitya-tṛptā, (this is a typical example of usage of double negatives to mean a positive factor) which means She is contended even with perishable offerings. Based on this interpretation, the present nāma can be explained as ‘She remains contended with eternal non-perishable offering, which is Ātman.’

Bhakta-nidhiḥ भक्त-निधिः (567)

She is the treasure house for Her devotees. She shares this treasure with Her devotees whenever sought for vide nāma 989.

Niyantrī नियन्त्री (568)

She is the guide to the universe. Since She administers the universe, She is addressed in this nāma as its guide.

Nikhileśvarī निखिलेश्वरी (569)

This is an extension of the previous nāma. Because of being the only guide to the universe, a quality of the Brahman, She assumes the position of Supreme Ruler, which is conveyed in this nāma. Nikhila means complete or total.

Maitryadi-vāsanā-labhyā मैत्र्यदि-वासना-लभ्या (570)

She can be attained through qualities like kindness, etc.

Patañjaliyoga sūtra I.33 says “Friendship, mercy, gladness and indifference being thought of in regard to subjects, happy, unhappy and good and evil respectively, pacify the mind stuff.” For attaining perfection, one has to remove evil thoughts. One should not become felicitous on knowing the sufferings of another. One should not become jealous on knowing the wealth of another. When someone is suffering, one has to help him to come out of his sufferings. Converting hatred into love, converting sadness into happiness etc are some of the ways to attain perfection. But practicing positivism to countervail the effects of negativities, mind attains perfection, which leads to the stage of samādhi. Such devotees can easily reach the stage of bliss and ultimate merger with the Brahman (kaivalya).

This nāma says that She can be attained by developing positive thoughts. She can be attained by positive vāsanā-s or impressions.

Mahā-pralaya-sakṣiṇī महा-प्रलय-सक्षिणी (571)

Mahā-pralaya is the total dissolution that has been discussed in nāma 232 maheśvara-mahākalpa-mahā-tāṇḍava-sākṣiṇī. When annihilation unfolds, the entire universe gets dissolved into Śiva. This happens exactly in the reverse process of creation. At the time of creation ākāś was born out of the Brahman, air was born out of ākāś, etc. At the time of annihilation, air gets dissolved into ākāś and ākāś gets dissolved into Śiva. This process is known as involution as opposed to evolution, a process that happens during creation.

This nāma says that She is the only witness to the great dissolution. Such a great dissolution unfolds at the command of Śiva. He begins His famous cosmic dance during annihilation. Macrocosm gets dissolved into Śiva and She is the only witness to such a mind boggling event.